Network Rail Property has reported its retail sales results for the quarter from April to July and it’s clear that railway station retail is getting back on track post-pandemic as commuters return to their offices and tourists come back to Britain’s key cities.

The figures show an increase in total retail sales (which includes the wide variety of products sold through station stores, as well and food and drink). In fact, total sales rose 10% and like-for-like sales were up 5% across its retail portfolio of 19 managed stations throughout Great Britain. No monetary value was given.

That success for Network Rail came at the same time as total retail sales in the sector as a whole fell 1.1% across the country and like-for-like sales dropped 1.4% (according to the British Retail Consortium).

Across all 19 stations, total retail sales in Q1 reached £225.9 million, while Network Rail’s annual retail sales for 2023/24 surpassed £842 million and were 2% ahead of 2019/20, the last year before the pandemic devastated railway station retail.

The company said that strong sales performances were supported by the opening of 14 new stores and food-beverage outlets across Network Rail stations in Q1. 

Key new openings included the successful relocation of pre-loved fashion pop-up Good London at London Bridge and two Duck World pop-up spaces at London Victoria and London Liverpool Street.

London Waterloo was the best performing station for the quarter with total sales up 39% compared to the previous year. Followed closely by Clapham Junction at +32%. All five Network Rail regions experienced growth in total sales, with the largest rise coming from North West & Central (+14%).

Over the past 12 months London Waterloo has introduced a host of new and upgraded retail units including M&S, and Monsoon Boutique. The M&S at Waterloo is the brand’s largest station retail store in Britain and has been instrumental in Waterloo’s strong total sales growth during the period.